Symptoms

Spitting up and vomiting are the main symptoms of infant reflux. As long as your baby is healthy, content and growing well, the reflux is not a cause for concern. Your child will in all likelihood outgrow it.

While your baby may act fussy or seem to be uncomfortable, it is very unusual for the stomach contents to be acidic enough to irritate the esophagus or throat, as happens with acid reflux.

When to see a doctor

Contact your baby's doctor if your baby:

Isn't gaining weight

Spits up forcefully, causing stomach contents to shoot out of his or her mouth (projectile vomiting)

Spits up green or yellow fluid

Spits up blood or a material that looks like coffee grounds

Refuses food

Has blood in his or her stool

Has difficulty breathing

Begins vomiting at age 6 months or older

Some of these signs may indicate more-serious conditions, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or pyloric stenosis. In GERD, the reflux contains stomach acid which damages the lining of the esophagus. Pyloric stenosis is a rare condition in which a narrowed valve between the stomach and the small intestine keeps stomach contents from emptying into the small intestine.

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